Search found 192 matches

by austinbike
Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:02 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD processor for windows home server build? Want passive
Replies: 3
Views: 2791

AMD processor for windows home server build? Want passive

I have built a system and loaded MS windows home server to play around with it a bit.

Currently have an Athlon 4800+ dual in there, but I would like to go as cool and quiet as possible.

Can you recommend a good AM2 processor that I can run with passive cooling?
by austinbike
Sun Jun 07, 2009 4:15 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Motherboard and CPU for the fileserver
Replies: 2
Views: 2157

Two things to consider. First, atom does not have ECC, so if you are planning to be moving a lot of data back and forth, you may find that to be an issue. In addition you may find it to be underpowered. Also, you have a ton of drives in the box. Each drive consumes power, kicks off heat and makes no...
by austinbike
Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:21 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Uneven Core Temp(s)?
Replies: 10
Views: 6415

Most likely, the processor is loading the cores from 1-4. That means that 1 always gets the load first. 2 gets the next thread if 1 is busy. 3 if 2 is busy and finally, core 4 fires up only when the first 3 are engaged. That would mean that, in most circumstances, no matter how you adjust things, 1 ...
by austinbike
Thu Apr 09, 2009 4:58 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Where is Core i7 Revision D0?
Replies: 12
Views: 5429

However, I'm not sure what they mean! 'drop shipped direct from Intel' ? Can someone please translate it for me? Considering Intel only ships in batches of 1000 or something, I'm not sure what that means either. I'd think they still have to go through a distributor to get a single chip. I can't pic...
by austinbike
Thu Apr 09, 2009 4:57 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Where is Core i7 Revision D0?
Replies: 12
Views: 5429

OK, here is how it works. Processor companies make the parts, and they all go into the warehouse. It's probably full of all their old stuff, including not only the previous rev, but dual cores, and (eeeek) even old single cores. And to complicate matters, there is a distributor between the chip comp...
by austinbike
Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:57 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Xeon L5520 - the next ultimate low-ish power CPU?
Replies: 19
Views: 16119

Take a look at the review at Anandtech . They are staggeringly good for Server loads, almost unbelievably so, I’ve never seen anything trump the competition so comprehensively. Hmmm. Not so sure about that. If you go to Dell's site and price out a 2P 2.7GHz opteron system and a 2.93GHz xeon syste...
by austinbike
Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:27 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 65nm Quads - what’s the idle power consumption?
Replies: 11
Views: 4527

45nm is magic dust enabled. Plus a 6MB cache doesn't hurt for performance.
by austinbike
Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:00 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 65nm Quads - what’s the idle power consumption?
Replies: 11
Views: 4527

smilingcrow wrote:I did wonder whether you have some magic dust that you sprinkle on the thermal paste! :shock:
Well, let's just say that the 45nm, with 25% more clock, are running lower power than the 65nm. That's all I will say at this point ;)
by austinbike
Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:36 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 65nm Quads - what’s the idle power consumption?
Replies: 11
Views: 4527

smilingcrow wrote:
austinbike wrote:
I’m still curious as to what software and CPU speed/VCore you used that managed 90W at load with the Quad!

Well, maybe I mis-spoke. 90W at load, not full load (not 100%), probably more like 30% on the four cores, but they were each bouncing up and down, not solid.
by austinbike
Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:30 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Xeon L5520 - the next ultimate low-ish power CPU?
Replies: 19
Views: 16119

Keep in mind that LV DDR-3 isn't available until next year. DDR-3 eats up ~1W per DIMM over DDR-2. If you are running triple channel that is more DIMMs and more heat. Plus the latencies are pretty high, CL=7/CL=9. Q1 or Q2 2010 DDR-3 gets a lot better
by austinbike
Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:28 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 65nm Quads - what’s the idle power consumption?
Replies: 11
Views: 4527

The athlon X2 was ~42W. Same config, dual core. ~2.5 or 2.6. I have had so many different procs in that system that it is hard to say the exact config. If you seach on my posts I am pretty sure I have uploaded a lot. 690 boards, 780 boards, opteron, phenom, athlon. Most have temps and fan speeds, bu...
by austinbike
Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:43 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 65nm Quads - what’s the idle power consumption?
Replies: 11
Views: 4527

I had a 65nm Opteron 1356 in my system (75W ACP, quad-core). With 2GB of memory, DVD-RW, 2.5" SATA HD, 2 120mm fans (one on the heatsink and one case) and a Gigabyte 780-based board.

I was drawing ~60W at idle and ~90W at full load.
by austinbike
Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:21 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Xeon L5520 - the next ultimate low-ish power CPU?
Replies: 19
Views: 16119

That is one of the biggest issue in the xeon line is the inconsistency of features. As you move from the top of the stack to the middle and the middle to the bottom, features get cut, memory support gets cut, cache gets cut, features get cut. At least with opteron the features are consistent across ...
by austinbike
Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:52 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: GA-MA78GM-S2HP Version Differences
Replies: 6
Views: 4635

One thing to keep in mind is that once board manufacturers release a board and it is certifed to work, they immediately start work on "cost reduction." Save a nickel here, save a dime there, it all adds up. If you can shave a $1 off the cost, it sounds like a little bit, but ship 100,000 boards and ...
by austinbike
Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:30 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: CPU Power Draw, Voltage or Frequency?
Replies: 22
Views: 8300

Here is how you figure all of this out:

Image
by austinbike
Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:19 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: CPU Power Draw, Voltage or Frequency?
Replies: 22
Views: 8300

How do I find out how much my chip uses? I know it is usually lower than the TPD, but not sure by how much. I have a Kill-A-Watt if that will somehow be helpful. Some may disagree but I think that this is a crazy exercise. In my opinion people should be fixated on the total platform power draw (at ...
by austinbike
Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:15 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: CPU Power Draw, Voltage or Frequency?
Replies: 22
Views: 8300

Re: The end of underclocking and undervolting?

That's interesting- isn't that something that AMD has promised for a while (independent C'n'Q for each core), but I think still has to deliver. Maybe on the newest Phenoms? AMD has this feature (independant dynamic cores) in the Opteron line, starting with Barcelona (65nm). I would assume it is in ...
by austinbike
Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:25 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Lowest Power Consuming AM2 Motherboard
Replies: 18
Views: 11680

You may want to consider 1x2GB instead of 2x2GB. And underclock it to 533MHz. Really, you think you will be moving big files "all the time" but in reality, you will probably be moving big files every once in a while. Why pay for all the power to sit in idle most of the time? If you are truly using t...
by austinbike
Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:28 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD Phenom II
Replies: 59
Views: 25804

Yes, that is the board and yes, the vcore does not drop, but the frequency does.
by austinbike
Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:14 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD Phenom II
Replies: 59
Views: 25804

I was able to drop an Opteron quad core (1356) into a gigabyte GA-MA69SM board.

No problem recognizing it with the latest bios.
by austinbike
Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:36 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today
Replies: 8
Views: 4602

Actually, the server has a 4-pin fan (120mm) and that one is running higher speed in idle. The opteron is 75w acp, the phenom is 65w.
by austinbike
Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:34 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today
Replies: 8
Views: 4602

Greg F. wrote:your cpu fan idles at over 1100 rpm. Doesn't that seem like a lot?
That's a good question. What are other people seeing from their fans?
by austinbike
Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:14 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today
Replies: 8
Views: 4602

Unfortunately I didn't bother with the power consumption.

The server had ~42W before and is now ~65.

The HTPC was never measured before so I have no frame of reference.
by austinbike
Sun Nov 23, 2008 5:18 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today
Replies: 8
Views: 4602

Was there any noticeable performance gain ? I was unaware that any Opterons came in socket AM2 , does it fit ( and work ) on all AM2 boards ? Performance is better on multi threaded programs. On single threaded programs I will see a performance hit (2GHz vs. ~2.5GHz). The board does support some of...
by austinbike
Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:58 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today
Replies: 8
Views: 4602

Upgraded 2 AMD systems to quad today

I updated my HTPC from dual core athlon to quad phenom and my workstation from dual core athlon to quad opteron.

Here are the temps:

Image
by austinbike
Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:09 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD Phenom II
Replies: 59
Views: 25804

Tobias wrote:Quad core CPU:s at 2.3-2.7GHz with a TDP of 55W? Sounds great to me:)
Actually the 2.3-2.7 shanghai parts are 75W acp, not 55w. However, I have seen a few benchmark results that show the 75W shanghais drawing about the same power as 55W barcelonas. Impressive.
by austinbike
Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:37 am
Forum: Networking
Topic: Speed of Gigabit LAN - any differences onboard vs PCI(e) ?
Replies: 18
Views: 16121

Yes, check your cables but also check to see if you have jumbo frames enabled. Your switch will need to support jumbo frames, and if it does enabling jumbo frames on your nic will make a big difference.

If your switch doesn't support it jumbo frames don't turn it on, that just creates more issues.
by austinbike
Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:40 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 690G, 740G, 780G, 790GX
Replies: 1
Views: 2221

Here are some comparisons:

Image


Might load up a 65w phenom this weekend to see how that does.
by austinbike
Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:26 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Cool N Quiet Issue. Please help.
Replies: 11
Views: 5813

I had a similar issue, rolling back to 8.5 drivers from 8.8 fixed it for me.

Do you have system restore turned on?
by austinbike
Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:38 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Triple Core AMD's ???
Replies: 44
Views: 16506

Server parts before the end of the year.